why doesnt anybody talk of the more than 20 million russians who died in ww2?

Question

are the jews the only people that suffered?how about the 10 million germans or the poles?

Answer 1

People have written about them. For instance, read Andrew Beevor's books about Stalingrad and the Russian capture of Berlin. There are also works about the horrific seige of Leningrad, in which over a million people starved to death.

At the time, Britain and the United States did not want to draw attention to the horrific suffering in Russia, and their ally Stalin's appalling behaviour, so there was little publicity in the West about the scale of death in the East.

More recently, it has been harder to get information about the Second World War in Russia becuase Western historians had little access to Russian archives until the fall of the Soviet Union, and even now there are restrictions. There is the obvious issue that fewer English language historians can read Russian than German.

It is comparatively easy to descibe the deaths in the period of World War II, either in the fighting or the holocaust, in Germany as the causes are relatively straight forward. Sadly, the history of Russia between the outbreak of the First World war and Stalin's death in 1953 was a long catlogue of suffering. Starting with the deaths of the First World War, more died in fighting in the years immediately following the revolutions of 1917, In the later 1920s and early 1930s, many died of famine due to mismanagement of Soviet agriculture, as well as for political reasons. Later in the 1930s, millions died as the result of Stalin's purges, either through execution or as a result of their treatment in the camps. More millions, as you point out, died in World War II, both in the fighting and as a result of the destruction of the area of the Soviet Union in which it was fought. There was residual fighting in parts of Russia (for instance the Baltic States) after 1945, as well as further political persecution by Stalin. Given the lack of records, it was until recently very difficult to disentangle how many people had died in the area of the Soviet Union and when. Westerners were reduced to estimating, with incredulity, the number of people in the Soviet Union who must have been killed to give the census figures that country reported; but it was impossible to disentangle how many had died because of Stalin from those killed fighting the Germans.

In relation to nationality, my view is that a violent death is an individual tragedy regardless of the person's nationality. As you say, millions of Germans, Poles, Russians and, perhaps particularly, members of ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union died.

The suffering of the Jews under Nazi Germany is more or less uniquely horrific because it was genocide, i.e. a deliberate attempt to eradicate an entire race. I write more or less because Hitler also killed other groups such as the Roma. It should be said that Stalin also persecuted Jews. Indeed the Polish state in 1939, for which England and France went to war, was also anti-semitic - incredibly Poles even persecuted Jews at the end of World War II, when they knew about the concentration camps. However, this mistreatment did not reach the level of genocide. Similarly, millions of Germans, Russians and other East Europeans were killed but this did not represent an attempt to wipe out an entire race, although some of Stalin's resettlement of minorities within the Soviet Union was not far short.

I hope you realise from this answer that Eastern Europe during World War II was the site of immense suffering for many reasons. One reason we do not talk about it is that this part of history is simply to terrible to comprehend and take in. This does not mean that we should not try.

Answer 2

Let's not confuse those killed in the extermination camps and those who died as a result of combat.
An estimated 6 million were killed in the extermination camps; not only Jews, but Roma (gypsies)and people who didn't agree with the 3rd Reich.
As for the war on the eastern front, Russia lost far more soldiers and civilians there than the UK, France and the latter-day combatants, the USA did in the west or in north Africa.
And, the German people suffered too. This should not be forgotten.
But also let's not forget, that when the United Nations was founded, it was a case of 'Nation should speak peace unto nation' and that 'the holocaust' must never be allowed to happen again. That's more than 50 years ago. We haven't come far have we?
The Ghost in Shakespeare's Richard III, after reminding him of the evil which he had done, says 'think on these things, despair and die.' Not a bad maxim. It's so easy to forget.

Answer 3

They do. Plenty is said about all the people who died. Most of the the deaths on the Russian, British and German sides were due to the war. The Jewish deaths stand out because the Nazis wanted to exterminate them.

The numbers of Russians that died did outnumber that of other countries though but that was a lot to do with the fact that the Soviets used there armies as cannon fodder.

Also after WW2 the russians put many of the German soldiers into the same concentration/death camps that the Germans had previously used. Also, it is estimated that Stalin also executed around 6 million of his own people due to his own paranoid attitude.

Answer 4

Nobody gives a toss about the germans, as it was a war they started, and as for the Russians, most who have knowledge on the subject are fully aware of the vast numbers who died. I think the main reason that the Jews are foremost was the way in which they were persecuted and killed by the germans.

Answer 5

People who read books do talk about them if not as much as they do about the Holocaust.

I think for two main reasons:

1. Until recently Russia was the enemy in the Cold War and we didn't want to give them any credit for their part in winning WW2.

2. Due to the Cold War, there wasn't much detail available, so that although we knew about casualties in general, there wasn't enough information about where and when.

But if you're trying to use this as an excuse to downplay the Holocaust, one major difference is that the Russians were killed during active campaigning, during an invasion. The Jews were rounded up from their homes, far from any front line, and murdered *BY THEIR OWN COMPATRIOTS*.

Answer 6

Well, the German people experienced a great path of suffering since WW1. They were also victims in a manner. Of course that the Jewish victims are far more minded because they were literally exterminated and not being an active part of the war. As for the Russians, it was a masked massacre worse than the Jewish slaughter.

Answer 7

Rest of the World needs Hollywood on their side, too.
Just the way things are going on, yet.
No hard feelings, I strongly believe any murder is desperate thing because no one have right to interrupt another's life. The big fact is if there wasn't Russian fight with huge number of victims against Germans, maybe the results of WWII could be different and those war could be a real apocalypse even it was the worst of all wars before.

Answer 8

Well, the russians wrote the history books, being the winners. We didn't talk about them over in the west for fear of p*55ing off the russians during the cold war. Poles were behind the Iron curtain, and germans were just kicked around by everyone. more recently we've all forgotten. of course, the holocaust is kept fresh in our minds by the actions of Israel....

Answer 9

The Jews were victims of a systematic extermination.

The Russians had the ability to fight back, but true, they suffered greatly in the siege of Leningrad and other conflicts.

And since the germans provoked the war, they got what they earned.

Answer 10

About three million polish catholics died in those camps, too.

Russians always talk about the war dead. Their histories, at least in the Soviet era, show them fighting the war almost totally alone, and don't have a lot to say about American & Britain.

And the Germans as such total and complete peaceniks nowadays, it took them 50 years to send troops outside the country, and even then it was humanitarian aid. God knows they deserve a break!

America's had enough war, too.